This table contains margin notes taken from my copy of Belshaw, 1993. This
key is available by mail-order direct from the Royal
Entomological Society publications department.
Many modifications or notes cater for new species added to the UK list - I
have noted them here but for the actual modifications see my document on the
new species.
| Couplet |
Modification |
| Main key #50 (b) |
Should read "Thorax with 3 or more katepisternal
bristles" - Epicampocera, which runs through this couplet
has 4 katepisternals |
| Main key #60 (a) |
Should read "arranged in an obvious,
forward pointing triangle" |
| Main key #68 |
Abberant Drino lota occasionally
have two small ocellar bristles so return to this couplet if you feel
the specimen is neither of the choices in #69. |
| Main key #73 |
If you get to here with a specimen
that has no orange on the scutellum but has crossed, up-turned apicals
then you may have gone wrong at couplet #18 (hairs on facial ridge)
because some Pseudoperichaeta nigrolineata have bristles that
only just get up half way. |
| Main key #74 |
Some Athrycia impressa have
one or two hairs at the distal end of R1 but should be taken to couplet
82 (no hairs). |
| Main key #77 (b) |
[confirmatory information: V. ruralis
has a stout downward curving bristle on the parafacial area and does
NOT have discal bristles on T3 & T4] |
| Main key #85 (a) |
[confirmatory information: Athrycia
spp. have discal bristles on T3 & T4] |
| Main key #95 |
Note a new species (Catharosia
pygmaea (Fallén)) keys to this point. |
| Main key #117 |
Insert modifications for a new species,
Clytiomya continua (Panzer). |
| Main key #144 |
Silly point really but if you get
here with a fly that has hairy eyes and very few hairs on vein r4+5
then you went wrong at the start (hairy eyes) and you have Eriothrix
prolixa! |
| Main key #146 |
The number of post-sutural dc given as a secondary
feature is unreliable - Demoticus plebejus has 3 post-sutural dc |
| Main key #147 |
Watch out for a new species (Bithia demotica) here. Specimens that key to Bithia modesta should be confirmed using the Bithia key in Tschorsnig & Herting (1994). |
| Main key #148 |
Watch out for a new species (Opesia grandis) here. Specimens that key to Opesia cana should be confimed using the Opesia key in Tschorsnig & Herting (1994). Opesia cana is a spring species but Opesia grandis is found in mid-summer. |
| Main key #150 (a) |
Should read "Thorax with one
pair of pre-sutural bristles" - the distinctinion between "a"
and "one" is slightly ambiguous and allows for more than
one pair. If you reach this point with a specimen that has more than
one pair you should stop and try again - you have made a mistake earlier
in the key. |
| Main key #154 (b) |
If you struggle to get a small black
fly to this point you may have Paracraspedothrix montivaga
(added in 2002 from specimens taken 2001). Consider:
| Paracraspedothrix motivaga |
Phytomyptera cingulata |
| Mouth edge not exactly protruding
but developed into a forward pointing rim - usually dark/black |
Mouth edge not protruding -
usually grey |
| No apical scutellars but
a long pair of sub-apicals |
Pair of small, diverging
apical scutellars |
| A few fine hairs on/around node
r4+5 |
A single large bristle on node
r4+5 |
| Bend in wing vein m usually
very smooth |
Bend in wing vein m usually
quite angular |
|
| Main key #172 |
Both Blepharipa schineri and
Sturmia bella (Meigen) key to this point but fail both choices. |
| Actia key #5 (page 38) |
Insert modifications for a new
species, Ceromya flaviseta (Villeneuve). |
Athrycia key
(page 41) |
Tschorsnig notes that (in addition
to Belshaw’s characters) impressa has a reddish-yellow antennal
segment 2 - trepida is more often black (very rarely with reddish-yellow
colouration). |
Ceranthia (Actia)
key (page 39)
|
Note new species (Ceranthia tristella).
Check Andersen. |
| Entomophaga (Actia)
key (page 40) |
Note new species here - Entomophaga
sufferta. Check Andersen. |
Eurithia key
(page 46) |
Use genitalia figures in van Emden
from couplet #9 onwards. Belshaw’s use of the presence of grey dusting
is an unreliable feature. You can improve couplet #11(a) by noting
that there may be grey dusting on T5 but it is always much less than
on T4. Also, the number of post-sutural dc bristles is often asymetric
(3 large on one side, 4 small on the other!) - check both sides. |
Phasia key
(page 53) |
Note new species (Phasia barbifrons
(Girschner)) similar to pusilla. Check Tschorsnig & Herting. |
Phryxe key
(page 54) |
Note new species here - Phryxe
erythrostoma (Hartig), which runs to vulgaris but differs
from all other species in having claws longer than the last tarsonomere.
Also couplet 2 (a) says to look for hairs on the "underside
of the subcostal vein" but figure 394 shows the position
of the hairs to be along the costal vein - the correct position
is the section of the costal vein between Sc and the r1. All Phryxe
have small bristles along the leading edge of the costal vein
but on the underside most have a clear area of vein between these
and the wing surface - heraclei has some small bristlets
in the area that is normally clear. |
Siphona key
(page 55) |
Specimens keying to S. boreata
should be checked against Andersen in case they are Siphona hokkaidensis
Mesnil. |
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